Before we address today's space policy issues, it must be understood that the core problem with the America's "space program" has been with us since the Apollo program "space race" began in earnest in the early 1960's. As such, we need to look through the lens of history.

There is only one planet we know of, so far, that is drenched with life. That planet is Earth, as you may have guessed, and it has all the right conditions for critters to thrive on its surface. Do other planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, also host life forms?

Defying 30 mph gusts and temperatures down to minus 22 F, NASA's new polar rover recently demonstrated in Greenland that it could operate completely autonomously in one of Earth's harshest environments.

By Dennis Wingo: This is a 5,000 word blog post. I ask you who read to read all of this so that you will get the gestalt that is being conveyed. This may be the first chapter of a forthcoming book on the subject of the economic development of the solar system. Consider it a sneak peek.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is soliciting the submission of multiinstitutional team-based proposals for research as participating members of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), hereafter referred to as "the Institute."

The international team of astronauts taking part in ESA's caving adventure have returned to Earth after spending six days underground. The voyage to the surface of our planet took them five hours from basecamp.